Day 13 & Day 14: Snake Bite and the Early Bird...

DAY 13:

Tuesday morning, 7.00 am: Four headlights illuminate the yard, with sleepy sputtering two old diesel engines break the idyllic silence of the morning, the two pick-ups slowly start moving and make their way, like two sleepy giants, through the sandy driveway of Ondombo hunting farm ... With driver, scout, and hunter on board, their route leads out into the seemingly endless savannah of Namibia, directly towards the rising sun ...

This is how Tuesday morning started for Jakob and me as well, after breakfast we went straight to hunting. Absalom, our guest, and I roamed the savannah for a long time, but the animals seemed to be a bit smarter than us. Our search was mainly focused on zebras and wildebeests. While zebras knew very well how to avoid the car, wildebeests also sensed the imminent danger at the last second. Just before noon, the opportunity arose again, a single black wildebeest, another shot, and another hit. While I took the wildebeest to the slaughterhouse, the hunting team tried to track down the zebras on foot - but without success until lunchtime.

Then, in the second attempt in the afternoon, we were all together in one car again and managed to outsmart the zebras. We dropped off Absalom and the hunter in the thicket, and as expected, the zebras fled in the opposite direction of our travel route ... but then they turned around and the herd made a 180-degree turn ... but this time right into the arms of the positioned hunter. He hit them without any difficulty...

In the further course of the hunt, the second hunter also caught a springbok and a kudu. With 4 animals shot, the day couldn't have gone much better from the hunters' perspective ...

... but unfortunately, the day was not going to have a happy ending. In the evening, one of our guests noticed unusual behavior in one of the dogs. Buddy, one of two Beagle brothers, seemed very weak and unsteady on his feet, but after a while, he started having seizures. He was also unable to control his bowel movements or urine and foamed at the mouth. He was probably bitten and poisoned by a snake or something similar during the afternoon walk that Karsten takes with the dogs almost every day. We tried to help him with medication, but the poison was so strong that the seizures got worse and unfortunately, there was no other option but to end his suffering. During dinner, everyone could feel that the story upset and saddened them. With this sad feeling, we went to sleep directly - the next day would start very early despite everything...

DAY 14:

... and it did.

The alarm clock rang for Jakob at 4.15 am, and for me, half an hour later at 4.45 am. Then quickly make two thermos flasks of hot coffee and at 5.30 am sharp, the two Toyota Hiluxes rolled out of the yard. The plan was to sit at the waterhole. Since the animals use the twilight before sunrise to drink at the waterhole as safely as possible, it means that we have to be in position before sunrise. So Jakob and I, each with a duo in the bed of the truck, went on a tour to the neighboring hunting area to drop off the four at the waterhole. While they took up positions in one of the 'mud bunkers' there, we tried to get a few more hours of sleep with some distance from the waterhole.

But the attempt failed with the rising sun at the latest. However, I was compensated with a fantastic view of the savannah in the light of the rising sun.

At 9.00 am, my team left their position at the waterhole - they had at least shot a jackal so far.

The new goal for the morning was to find and shoot an ostrich. Until noon, we were able to track a magnificent male ostrich, but at 12.00 pm sharp, it finally managed to escape and disappear into the thicket. A little disappointed but even hungrier, we returned to the farm. A kind of brunch was already waiting for us there since we hadn't eaten anything yet, and at least my stomach was growling.

After the lunch break, we went back to the waterhole. For a second attempt, I left the hunter and scout there and took up the same standby position as in the early morning hours. After about 3 hours, a shot rang out, shortly afterwards, I received a call saying that I could come back now - to pick up the hunter, scout, and trophy. I set off, but I didn't expect a large stone by the roadside. With a loud crunch, my car came to a stop, perched on the stone ... with the rear wheels in the air, and I couldn't move anymore (the car does not have 4x4 drive, only rear-wheel drive). After sending a short text message to Absalom, he rushed to help me. Together with him and a jack, we were able to fix the minor breakdown without any problems or damages. We arrived back at the farm at about 7.00 pm. Tired from the early wake-up call, we went straight to bed after dinner.